


Audrey learns about gay people

by orphan_account



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: Cooper puts the BI in FBI, Harry puts the Bi in "trying my best(bi)", I stole that joke by the way, M/M, Smooching, Very domestic, dare i say, fluffy even, hugging before marriage, kinda cute, perhaps a bit of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:13:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24367096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: what it says on the tin baby.
Relationships: Dale Cooper & Harry Truman, Dale Cooper/Harry Truman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Audrey learns about gay people

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I really hope yall like this, this is my first twin peaks fic, so comments are appreciated! let me know if you want more!

Ever since making the decision to stay in Twin Peaks following the end of the “murder of Laura Palmer” case, agent Dale Cooper had found that he had not only fallen in love with the small town, with all of its quirks and terrifying supernatural experiences but someone within that small town. He had a strict policy about not persuing people who he was working a case with or people who were part of his case, but he figured it would be okay to make an exception since technically, the case was now closed. 

Something that Dale had known about himself for quite an extended period of time, was that he liked both men and women. Despite the fact that he usually found himself taken with women and in relationships with women, there were cases in which Dale had found himself growing extra fond of his fellow man. The same kind of fond he felt about women. When he first discovered this fact about himself, he wasn’t scared or confused, he simply accepted it. He was bisexual and there was nothing he could do to change that. If he fell for someone, it was usually following an extended period of friendship in which he was able to discover what he loved about them. However, due to the nature of those around him and the common perception of homosexuality being mostly negative at the time of his discovery, Dale never found himself able to truly express his emotions.

Nowadays, Dale was able to be a little bit more open with his close friends about his sexuality, he didn’t feel as much of a need to hide it as he used to, but he still felt the need to make sure that he trusted someone before sharing this part of himself with them. When Cooper found that he experienced attraction towards Sheriff Harry Truman, he really wasn’t too surprised, one of the first things he remembers thinking about Harry was an internal comment on his rugged good looks. Harry was taller than he was by a few inches, something Cooper always enjoyed. He also enjoyed Harry’s laid back demeanor, thinking it posed a great contrast to his constantly chipper and high energy attitude. The only problem with Harry was that for the first few weeks that he knew him, Harry was in a relationship with one miss Josie Packard. This didn’t end up being a problem, as, by the time Cooper realized the extent of his feeling for Harry, Josie had disappeared. Of course, this left Harry upset for a little while (as to be expected when your girlfriend leaves you out of nowhere) but eventually, he was able to get over it somewhat. 

Shortly after the case of Laura Palmer came to a close, Dale found it appropriate to approach Harry on the topic of his affection. At first, Harry was flattered but had to decline, as he didn’t think that he felt the same towards Dale, but after about a day’s worth of reflection and realizing how wrong he was, he knew that he wanted to be with him in a romantic relationship. He still had lingering guilt about how quickly he had moved on from Josie, but deep down Harry knew that this was what he wanted. He had grown more attached to Cooper than he had realized, and this progression from friendship to romance just felt right to both of them. Cooper’s ultimate decision to stay in Twin Peaks ended up being one of the best choices he had ever made, as it allowed him to maintain a close friendship with those he had met and a close relationship with Harry. Despite the fact that he did have to occasionally leave town for work, he was able to spend his free time in the town he had grown to love, with the people he had grown to love. 

He ended up moving out of the hotel and moving in with Harry almost as soon as they started their relationship. They were both aware of how unconventional this was for a relationship, especially a new one, but they figured that they needed to keep things on the down-low for as long as possible for the sake of both of their jobs, and it would look much less suspicious if instead of Dale getting his own place and eventually moving in with Harry, they just say they are roommates right off the bat. Of course, the people in the station were aware of the nature of their relationship, and they supported them, although they agreed with their decision to keep it under wraps for as long as possible. 

People around town knew that Dale and Harry remained good friends even after the Laura Palmer case, and so it was not unusual to see them together around town while Cooper was home and not out on some other case in some other city. Occasionally they went out to eat at The Great Northern when they wanted to have a “fancy” meal as opposed to making a makeshift dinner out of whatever happened to be in their fridge. During these times Audrey would often come up to say hello and flirt with Dale. This didn’t make Harry mad, only mildly jealous, despite the fact that he knew his partner well enough to know that he wouldn’t ever be interested in Audrey romantically, he also knew that if he wanted to keep their relationship on the down-low for as long as possible, there was nothing he could really do to indicate that Dale was not open for a relationship with her. Of course, Dale never flirted back, only offering light conversation and remarking that he was opposed to dating people who had been part of a case he was working on. This always caused Harry to let out a small chuckle, because despite Dale being a good enough actor to make that believable, Harry knew that that was actually just code for “Audrey you are a great girl, but I really do not wish to commit statutory rape at this time and also ever.” This was always enough for Audrey however, as she knew that they would probably never end up together, and mainly did it as a joke at this point. She respected agent Cooper and knew that it was better to have him as a friend if she couldn’t have him as a romantic partner. 

After almost two years had gone by with Dale and Harry keeping their relationship relatively secret they had a slip-up. It was inevitable, but the circumstances under which it happened were certainly unexpected. It was one of Dale’s weeks off in-between cases and he decided he wanted to do something nice for Harry. He decided that he would bring him lunch from the R and R and surprise him down at the station. He threw on one of Harry’s flannels that hung a bit larger and looser on him, partially because he liked wearing Harry’s jackets, and partially because after living together for two years, you end up mixing up your clothes with your boyfriend’s sometimes. After retrieving Harry and his lunches and talking with Norma for a while he headed down to the station to drop the food off and eat with him. 

Harry was pleasantly surprised to see Dale bringing him lunch and coming to spend some time with him during his otherwise rather uneventful workday. They talked and ate for a little while before Lucy came in to let Harry know that she was transferring him a call. Dale took this as his sign to leave but Harry motioned for him to stay, saying that he would just be a minute. It’s not like Dale was unaccustomed to sitting in on Harry’s work calls, he had many times during the Laura Palmer case and continued to afterwords during times like these when he would stop by to bring Harry lunch. Dale sat back and watched as Harry took the call, he reflected on the time he has spent in Twin Peaks, and most importantly, the time he spent with Harry. Despite the unconventional nature of their relationship they were both so happy with each other. They did fight occasionally like any other couple, but they were always able to patch things up and make them work. Harry looked over at him and shot him a wink, earning him a smile and a light chuckle from his partner. The state of their relationship remained strictly friendly at most times of the day, whenever they were outside or anywhere other than their home or the station they wouldn’t mention their relationship or hold hands or even maintain eye contact for suspicious amounts of time. However, this just meant that they never took time for themselves for granted. Harry hung up the phone and looked down at his desk. 

“Some damn kids vandalized some cars down near the great northern, but I don’t really want to deal with that right now. I’m gonna send Andy or Hawk to go take care of it, it will literally just be writing down what happened at the scene of the crime on a notepad so I don’t think I will need to be their hands-on,” Harry sighed. “This damn town has been so uneventful since the Laura Palmer case, I mean, it’s nice but it makes my job a whole lot more boring.”

“Harry I don’t think you realize how grateful I am for the uneventful state of this town since the Laura Palmer case,” Dale replied, standing up to walk over to Harry. 

“It is so nice to come back to stability, however, Harry are you aware of the strange happenings that still occur here? I still have very unusual dreams regarding this town and the happenings here. They are not as threatening as they used to be, but they are strange nonetheless.” He continues, wrapping his arms around Dale’s neck and pulling him in for a hug. 

“Do you think people know about us Dale?” Harry said, resting his chin on top of Dale’s head.

“If they do, they don’t seem to acknowledge it,” Dale replied, into Harry’s neck. 

“I mean, it has been a little over two years now, people have to be cathing on at least a little bit don’t they?” 

“I believe that while the people of this town are nice, they don’t tend to pick up on things…. Relationship wise. In the first week I was here alone I encountered multiple cases of unfaithful partners that no one else seemed to even notice, not to mention secret relationships no one else had picked up on. I think we will be okay Harry.”

Harry just let out a deep breath and continued to hug dale.

“I hope your right coop.”

“You should probably go alert Hawk and Andy of the new task they have.”

“Or I could just stay here with you and ignore everything else.”

“That would be very unprofessional, Harry.”

“It would be, but so much more enjoyable.”

Suddenly, Lucy came running into the room, seeming mildly panicked. 

“Um, Agent Cooper, I hope I’m not interrupting but Audrey Horne is here and she-”   
“Agent Cooper I need to speak to you right now, I think I have a lead on some kind of drug smuggling ring my father’s worthless brother is-” Audrey stopped in the middle of her sentence as soon as she laid eyes on Cooper and Harry. 

“Oh no, I’m so sorry is this a bad time, are you guys okay? Did something sad happen?.”

Dale and Harry were frozen in their tracks, still, in the same position, they were in moments ago when it had just been the two of them. Usually, they were lightning fast to cover their tracks, but the whiplash of Lucy, someone who had known about them since the beginning and was okay with their moments of intimacy around the station when they were the only ones there, peeking in, to Audrey, someone who was completely uncharted and still had somewhat of a thing for Dale, completely bursting in, caused them to freeze. They were caught like a deer in headlights, but luckily, Audrey didn’t seem to have caught on. It was like she was giving them an out and she didn’t even know about it. 

“Harry,” Dale said, still mumbling into the side of his neck, “I almost don’t want to turn around, but I feel like I maybe should, as it seems like the lovely Miss Audrey Horne is here, and perhaps worried about my emotional state.”

“I think that’s a good idea hon- Dale, uh Cooper.”

And with that, they slowly pulled apart, and Dale, with as much composure as he could muster, turned around and shot Audrey the biggest, most normal-seeming smile he could, before immediately realizing that maybe, in order to preserve the secret nature of his relationship, he should pretend to have just been crying or perhaps maybe even remotely sad. Lucy cut in once more. 

“Um, Audrey Horne is here to see you, Agent Cooper.”

“Thank you, Lucy.”

“I’m gonna go now, agent Cooper.”   
“I think that might be a good idea, Lucy.”

Dale watched as Lucy left and Audrey continued to process the situation. Harry just sat down and tilted his head down. 

“Agent Cooper what happened just now?” Asked Audrey.

“Audrey I want you to tell me what  _ you  _ think happened just now.”

“Well, at first I thought I walked in on sheriff Truman consoling you but now I think maybe that’s not what was going on. Agent Cooper are you like, ya know, not attracted to girls?”

“Well Audrey, before I disclose information of that nature I’m going to need to know your thoughts on the matter of same-sex attraction.”

“I guess I have never really thought about it, I don’t really care I guess? My parents don’t talk to me enough for me to inherit their opinions, and I don’t really leave town enough to be aware of anything other than the weird shit that goes on in Twin Peaks.”

“Good answer Audrey,” Cooper smiled and looked over at Harry, looking for confirmation to tell Audrey about the state of their relationship. Harry looked from the confused looking Audrey to the hopeful looking Dale and sighed. He nodded, deciding that even if this went sour, he loved Dale, and he would continue to love him even after the whole town hated them. Maybe they could move to Philadelphia, Dale always talked about how much he liked it there as a kid. Yeah, their backup could be Philadelphia. 

“Audrey,” Harry started, “Dale and I are in a relationship, romantically.” 

“Huh, how long has that been going on than sheriff Truman, a few months? Weeks maybe?”

“Two years, Audrey,” Dale cut in.

“Huh, a real-life gay person. Two real-life gay people, actually.”   
“Two bisexuals, actually. We both enjoy romantic relationships with people of all genders.” 

“What a world we live in, Agent Cooper. And to think I have flirted with you, in front of Sheriff Truman may I add, multiple times. Recently. Sheriff, why didn’t you ever cut in?”

“We are trying to keep it on the down-low, we didn’t want you to know and then go off and tell the whole town. Not to mention, every time you flirted with Dale we were in a very public environment.”

“Huh. I really have no idea why you kept this from me, Agent Cooper, I wouldn’t have told anyone if you told me not to.”

“We didn’t want to risk it.”

“Gentlemen I don’t even remember what I came here for, I have just met my first real-life gay people.”

Harry rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Sure Audrey was saying she wouldn’t tell anyone, but Jesus you really never know. He was both more stressed out than before while simultaneously being relieved that Audrey seemed to be taking this so…. normal. 

“Audrey you ran in screaming about your father’s brother running some sort of drug smuggling ring if I am not mistaking?”

“Right. Yeah, that. Um, give me a minute I’m actually gonna go, I think. I don’t have a problem with this, I just kind of need to collect my thoughts.”

“Audrey you ran in here with a very serious accusation about your uncle, I think maybe you should stay and collect your thoughts here, like, in the other room, because I’m going to need some more information on that,” Harry said.

“My uncle and my father do crazy shit all the time, this might be kind of run for the course for them.”

“Audrey, Harry is right we do need to know these things, we need to look into this if it is true, people could be getting hurt.”

“Agent Cooper are you wearing Sheriff Truman’s flannel?”   
“Yes, Audrey we live together I just grabbed the first flannel I saw, That is not the point, Audrey if you really have evidence that your uncle is ru-”

“I know yeah that’s a serious accusation, but like, how do you guys have sex?”

That was where Harry drew the line with the questions. He was just trying to have lunch with his boyfriend, he also had another thing that he had to do, he still had to go send either Hawk or Andy out to go investigate the reported vandalism, how did this get so off-topic so fast?   
“Audrey that is really not an appropriate question, look I have other work to do, Dale is just here on his day off, also how did you even know he was here? That’s beside the point, actually. Can you either make a claim or leave us to finish up and let me get back to work?”

“Sheriff I originally came to talk to you but I saw Agent Cooper’s car in the parking lot so I knew you would both be here. Sorry about the, questions. I’m going to go sit in the lobby and collect my thoughts, I do actually have a claim, give me a minute I kind of just learned about gay people I guess? I don’t know. Give me a second thought I’ll be good in a second.” 

And with that, Audrey left the room to go sit in the lobby and ponder the existence of gay people. Dale and Harry stared as Audrey left, in shock at the interaction that had just occurred. Dale went to go close the door and took a seat across from Harry. 

“Harry, I’m going, to be honest with you, I think that if people didn’t already know about us, they are about to. Nothing against Audrey, but I don’t have faith in her ability to not tell anyone about this. She is in her early twenties and has a natural inclination towards gossip.”

“You can say that again. Do you… Dale do you think she really only just became aware of the existence of gay people or is she just in shock.”

“I can honestly tell you that I have no idea. I think both options are entirely possible, but giving the nature of this small town I would say that it could be a combination both.”

“Wow, yeah I think you might be right, as always,” Harry admitted, looking down at his desk

“I find it funny that you say that considering how passionately you fought me regarding the topic of home gardening, not even twenty-four hours ago, my dearest Sheriff Truman.”

“That’s not fair the circumstances were different and you know that, I wasn’t fighting your knowledge I was fighting the idea of getting one.”

“And I cannot imagine why you would, considering the amount of well-defended evidence I presented in favor of it but I digress, you have work to do, and I would like to stop by the library and pick up a book or two before the day is through. I believe this would be the best time for me to make my exit.” with that, Dale went to go give Harry a small kiss on the cheek to say goodbye and walked out of the office. 

As he walked out of Harry’s office, he caught Audrey’s eye in the lobby.

“Audrey, you are going to go in and talk to the Sherrif Truman correct?” 

“Yeah, yes for sure, Of course, Agent Cooper. Sorry about earlier, I really do promise that I won’t tell anyone about that. I know that you know how I am, but I respect both you and Sheriff Truman, and I wouldn’t expose you if I had nothing to gain from it. Even if I had something to gain from it, I still don’t think I would say anything.”

“Well I must say, that is quite reassuring, thank you, Audrey. Now please, go tell Harry what you found out about your Father’s brother because that is a serious case, and on top of that, it will almost certainly involve FBI interference, and that would be great for me, as it means I would get to take my next job at home.”

Audrey smiled at her friend’s excitement about the idea of being able to work from home. 

“Alright, I will go and give Sherriff Truman the report. Im sorry again about earlier. Have a nice day, Agent Cooper.”

“Thank you, Audrey. On behalf of both Harry and myself.” 

With that Dale gave Audrey one more smile and a nod, and left the building. 

__

That night, as Harry and Dale sat at home on the couch together, after enjoying their dinner of last night’s leftovers, they both thought about the events of earlier today. For the first time in two years, someone else was finding out about their relationship, and they didn’t really know what to think. 

“You know, Harry I don’t know if this will make you feel better, but before I left the station today, I had a talk with Audrey. She said that she wouldn’t tell anyone, and she sounded sincere. I think I trust her to keep her word.” Dale said leaning his head on Harry’s shoulder. In turn, Harry wrapped his arm around Dale’s shoulders and pulled him in closer, planting a kiss on top of his head. 

“I was actually doing some thinking today. After you left and after I sent Andy out to take the vandalism report, Audrey did come in to talk to me about her case. It sounds legit, I think we could definitely call it in. But on top of that, she told me that you told her that the case would allow you to work from home, under the idea that the FBI would almost definitely end up getting involved. That made me think, Dale I think we are serious.”

“Yes, I also believe that we are in a serious relationship, but was that not already established?”

“It definitely was, but that’s not what im talking about. Dale realistically, I don’t think that we will be able to hide this for the rest of our lives, I think at some point we are going to have to be more open about the nature of our relationship, I think I am at the point where I don’t care if Audrey tells people. Let them talk, I don’t think that it will be too big of a deal.”   
“Harry, there were so many things you just said, but my take away from all of that was ‘forever’. Do you think you will be able to handle me forever? Forever is a long time, Harry.”

“Dale of course I think I will be able to handle you forever, otherwise I wouldn’t have said it. I think it is finally time for us to start thinking in the long term about us, and I think part of that involves people knowing. Maybe not everyone, but al least some people.”

“I agree one hundred percent,” Dale said, his eyes brimming with tears at the fact that Harry really wanted them to be together forever. 

“Remind me tomorrow to pick up a pie from the R and R before you leave for work, I might not be in the best state of mind to remember things other than this conversation right now,” Dale said, lifting his legs so that they were draped over Harry’s on the couch, and nestling further into his side. 

“Why do you wanna do that hon?” Harry asked, adjusting to Dale’s change in position.

“I think this is a small celebration. A new chapter in our relationship. We deserve a pie.”

“I think your right, we do deserve a pie,” Harry said as he planted another kiss on Dale’s head.

“I love you, Harry”

“I love you too hon.”


End file.
